and tis a true pity since at the correct size they could been every bit as terrifying if they behavied like a swarm. A swarm of rats is terrifying enough, now imagine them as predators with pack instincts.

Saw an article in PopSci about the future of "microdrones"- tiny drones the size of paperclips explicitly modeled after insects (since insects are by far the most efficently flyers known to engineering). The fact that you could mount a camera with full recording capabilities on one the size of a large housefly was bad enough, but one research was working on creating a "hive mind" effect for autonomous drones the size of bumble bees that could be programmed with fairly simple cooperation alogrithins to work together to achieve a common goal such as lifting a heavy object. It could take thousands of them working in concert but, the alorithims could easily scale to swarm even larger than that.

Also, I always wondered why Jurassic Park didn't have dry moats around their animal cages; like every other zoo in the history of ever? Also, if they knew the raptors could jump 20 vertical feet; why didn't they make the raptor cage 30 feet tall? Also, why didn't they have a shiat ton of concrete walls separating the cages from the visitor's center?

I'm reasonably certain that I heard somewhere they were originally going to be identified as deinonychus, which is closer in size to the cunning dinos portrayed in Jurassic Park, but that Crichton decided "velociraptor" sounded more frightening, so he went with that.

The thing that I never understood is why anyone would think we could tell whether T-rex would ignore you if you were still. It can see, and it likely has other senses like olfaction, so it probably could tell whether you would be edible or not, or at least worth gnawing on to make sure you were edible or not. You can't really determine perceptual capabilities like that from the fossil record though. It would be like saying "T-Rex can't see purple, we know because fossils..." That's not how that works, Crichton.

Lt. Cheese Weasel:Galloping Galoshes: Headso: oh nice I can keep my mother in law in there!

She'd tear through that cage in a New York minute. It's the tyrannosaur enclosure for her.

[content.hollywire.com image 850x462]

'Clever girl'.

More like stupid Muldoon.

He knew there was more than one of them, and he knows they cooperated. So he goes after the one raptor that he can see, staring intently on that one. He develops what is known as "target fixation", and he ignores any other possible dangers.

Plus he gives Dr. Sattler *VERY* bad advice at the same time, telling her to run. That's an almost guaranteed way to entice a predator to attack. Better to have had her quietly stalk her way down while he made noise and distracted the raptors (while keeping them in sight).

I'm reasonably certain that I heard somewhere they were originally going to be identified as deinonychus, which is closer in size to the cunning dinos portrayed in Jurassic Park, but that Crichton decided "velociraptor" sounded more frightening, so he went with that.

The thing that I never understood is why anyone would think we could tell whether T-rex would ignore you if you were still. It can see, and it likely has other senses like olfaction, so it probably could tell whether you would be edible or not, or at least worth gnawing on to make sure you were edible or not. You can't really determine perceptual capabilities like that from the fossil record though. It would be like saying "T-Rex can't see purple, we know because fossils..." That's not how that works, Crichton.

No one believes that at the moment. However, it was a theory around the time he was writing the first book. By the second book Crichton dismissed the notion entirely as stupid.

She'd tear through that cage in a New York minute. It's the tyrannosaur enclosure for her.

[content.hollywire.com image 850x462]

'Clever girl'.

More like stupid Muldoon.

He knew there was more than one of them, and he knows they cooperated. So he goes after the one raptor that he can see, staring intently on that one. He develops what is known as "target fixation", and he ignores any other possible dangers.

Plus he gives Dr. Sattler *VERY* bad advice at the same time, telling her to run. That's an almost guaranteed way to entice a predator to attack. Better to have had her quietly stalk her way down while he made noise and distracted the raptors (while keeping them in sight).

I'm still not sure why they HAD to go through the raptor enclosure. You'd have thought that they would have, you know, designed a way around when they were designing the park or something.

Also, why did they build a system where when the fences failed, the fences failed in the off position?

Also, hospitals have big unnecessarily overpowered generators; why did Jurassic Park have one, underpowered generator? I thought their company was a multi-million dollar company.

Kome:The thing that I never understood is why anyone would think we could tell whether T-rex would ignore you if you were still. It can see, and it likely has other senses like olfaction, so it probably could tell whether you would be edible or not, or at least worth gnawing on to make sure you were edible or not. You can't really determine perceptual capabilities like that from the fossil record though.

Actually, and I would defer to Dino Dork on this, but you can tell a lot about the perceptual capabilities of an animal through just the fossil record. You won't get it *EXACTLY* right, but you'd be able to tell a lot.

And while the movie kind of makes a hash out of it, even *OUR* visual system is built on movement. Movement attracts the eye. Predators that hunt are attracted to movement. You can see it in the most base form in frogs, but it also even works with larger and more advanced predators. In a low-contrast environment like at night when its raining, it would be tough for even you and I to pick out recognizable shapes (remember the film is brighter than it would be in real life, because otherwise you'd see nothing)

Also, olfaction is a hard thing to use in the rain, which is when the tyrannosaur was rampaging in the original Jurassic Park. Water tends to wash away scent, and to muddy it up and mingle it with other scents.

But the very worst thing about the JP movie is that there were raptors loose in the park prior to everything going pear-shaped.

This is an adult raptor track in the film:

Notice they have that characteristic 2-toed dromeosaur appearance. That's because the third sickle-claw is held up, unlike other theropods or hadrosaurs that have a 3 toed track.

These are the tracks leading away from the hatched eggs found by Dr. Grant and the kids:

iheartscotch:I'm still not sure why they HAD to go through the raptor enclosure. You'd have thought that they would have, you know, designed a way around when they were designing the park or something.

They didn't go through the raptor enclosure: The raptors escaped from the enclosures.

Also, why did they build a system where when the fences failed, the fences failed in the off position?

Because electricity has to come from *SOMEWHERE*, and if there is no electricity, the fences are no longer electrified.

Also, hospitals have big unnecessarily overpowered generators; why did Jurassic Park have one, underpowered generator? I thought their company was a multi-million dollar company.

Actually, they had a large generator capable of powering all the systems. In fact, they *HAD* to run off a generator all the time because they were on an island.

The movie and the book differ in details here: In the book, resetting the system shifted them over to the backup generators, which would give them time to start up the main power plant, but they didn't notice that in time, and all the power failed after the backup generators ran out of fuel. That shut down all the fences.

In the movie, when they shut down the system, it also shuts down everything except battery backup for the computers and emergency lighting, so it *ALSO* shuts down all the fences. The generator needs to be manually started which wouldn't normally have been a problem, but there were few staff on the island because of the approaching storm.

Also, I always wondered why Jurassic Park didn't have dry moats around their animal cages; like every other zoo in the history of ever? Also, if they knew the raptors could jump 20 vertical feet; why didn't they make the raptor cage 30 feet tall? Also, why didn't they have a shiat ton of concrete walls separating the cages from the visitor's center?

...because then there would not be an entertaining movie. The computers & power would still fail, but the animals would just sit in their pens.

dittybopper:iheartscotch: I'm still not sure why they HAD to go through the raptor enclosure. You'd have thought that they would have, you know, designed a way around when they were designing the park or something.

They didn't go through the raptor enclosure: The raptors escaped from the enclosures.

Also, why did they build a system where when the fences failed, the fences failed in the off position?

Because electricity has to come from *SOMEWHERE*, and if there is no electricity, the fences are no longer electrified.

Also, hospitals have big unnecessarily overpowered generators; why did Jurassic Park have one, underpowered generator? I thought their company was a multi-million dollar company.

Actually, they had a large generator capable of powering all the systems. In fact, they *HAD* to run off a generator all the time because they were on an island.

The movie and the book differ in details here: In the book, resetting the system shifted them over to the backup generators, which would give them time to start up the main power plant, but they didn't notice that in time, and all the power failed after the backup generators ran out of fuel. That shut down all the fences.

In the movie, when they shut down the system, it also shuts down everything except battery backup for the computers and emergency lighting, so it *ALSO* shuts down all the fences. The generator needs to be manually started which wouldn't normally have been a problem, but there were few staff on the island because of the approaching storm.

/Storm is kind of a dud, btw.

I know that the electric fences would need electricity; but, why didn't they have huge concrete walls and dry moats; like every other zoo, in the history of ever?

Also, why wasn't the generator in the main building? They could have put it 40 feet under ground and no one would have ever known.

Also, why didn't they have a "Oh Shiat!" room? That's probably the first thing I would have implemented. In fact; I would make sure every building had one.

Also, I always wondered why Jurassic Park didn't have dry moats around their animal cages; like every other zoo in the history of ever? Also, if they knew the raptors could jump 20 vertical feet; why didn't they make the raptor cage 30 feet tall? Also, why didn't they have a shiat ton of concrete walls separating the cages from the visitor's center?

...because then there would not be an entertaining movie. The computers & power would still fail, but the animals would just sit in their pens.

And people paid good money to see lawyers get eaten. It's not personal, it's business.

iheartscotch:dittybopper: iheartscotch: I'm still not sure why they HAD to go through the raptor enclosure. You'd have thought that they would have, you know, designed a way around when they were designing the park or something.

They didn't go through the raptor enclosure: The raptors escaped from the enclosures.

Also, why did they build a system where when the fences failed, the fences failed in the off position?

Because electricity has to come from *SOMEWHERE*, and if there is no electricity, the fences are no longer electrified.

Also, hospitals have big unnecessarily overpowered generators; why did Jurassic Park have one, underpowered generator? I thought their company was a multi-million dollar company.

Actually, they had a large generator capable of powering all the systems. In fact, they *HAD* to run off a generator all the time because they were on an island.

The movie and the book differ in details here: In the book, resetting the system shifted them over to the backup generators, which would give them time to start up the main power plant, but they didn't notice that in time, and all the power failed after the backup generators ran out of fuel. That shut down all the fences.

In the movie, when they shut down the system, it also shuts down everything except battery backup for the computers and emergency lighting, so it *ALSO* shuts down all the fences. The generator needs to be manually started which wouldn't normally have been a problem, but there were few staff on the island because of the approaching storm.

/Storm is kind of a dud, btw.

I know that the electric fences would need electricity; but, why didn't they have huge concrete walls and dry moats; like every other zoo, in the history of ever?

Also, why wasn't the generator in the main building? They could have put it 40 feet under ground and no one would have ever known.

Also, why didn't they have a "Oh Shiat!" room? That's probably the first thing I would have implemented. In fact; I would make su ...

Well, it was only until later did they realize HOW much shiat they were in!

iheartscotch:I know that the electric fences would need electricity; but, why didn't they have huge concrete walls and dry moats; like every other zoo, in the history of ever?

Actually, they did have something like that, but it wasn't there all the time:

Apparently, having the power go out makes the ground drop 100 feet, but not quickly enough to keep the tyrannosaur from escaping.

Also, why wasn't the generator in the main building? They could have put it 40 feet under ground and no one would have ever known.

Might have been for convenience sake. Easier to send electricity than pipe diesel. Plus, under pretty much all but very exceptional circumstances, they would have had a couple people on duty there 24/7.

Also, why didn't they have a "Oh Shiat!" room? That's probably the first thing I would have implemented. In fact; I would make sure every building had one.

Also, I always wondered why Jurassic Park didn't have dry moats around their animal cages; like every other zoo in the history of ever? Also, if they knew the raptors could jump 20 vertical feet; why didn't they make the raptor cage 30 feet tall? Also, why didn't they have a shiat ton of concrete walls separating the cages from the visitor's center?

I hate to break it to you but Jurassic Park was not a historical film(s) recounting the tragic events on the Isla Nublar.

dittybopper:iheartscotch: I know that the electric fences would need electricity; but, why didn't they have huge concrete walls and dry moats; like every other zoo, in the history of ever?

Actually, they did have something like that, but it wasn't there all the time:

[i.imgur.com image 415x475]

Apparently, having the power go out makes the ground drop 100 feet, but not quickly enough to keep the tyrannosaur from escaping.

Also, why wasn't the generator in the main building? They could have put it 40 feet under ground and no one would have ever known.

Might have been for convenience sake. Easier to send electricity than pipe diesel. Plus, under pretty much all but very exceptional circumstances, they would have had a couple people on duty there 24/7.

Also, why didn't they have a "Oh Shiat!" room? That's probably the first thing I would have implemented. In fact; I would make sure every building had one.

They did have an "Oh Shiat!" room. That's what this room was:

[i42.tinypic.com image 850x460]

I think the issue with where the T-Rex got out was that it was designed explicitly as a viewing area, and as such had poorer security in favor of drawing the animal as close to the viewers as possible. It WAS the main attraction after all. That spot did not have... wait, I am recalling the cars going over the edge now. Yeah... farking hole, T-Rex should not have been that high up or that close to the fence as later, when the cars go over, they drop quite a ways, and there isn't any evidence of a hillock or something to explain the spot where the goat stood and T-Rex got out.

MechTard:I think the issue with where the T-Rex got out was that it was designed explicitly as a viewing area, and as such had poorer security in favor of drawing the animal as close to the viewers as possible. It WAS the main attraction after all. That spot did not have... wait, I am recalling the cars going over the edge now. Yeah... farking hole, T-Rex should not have been that high up or that close to the fence as later, when the cars go over, they drop quite a ways, and there isn't any evidence of a hillock or something to explain the spot where the goat stood and T-Rex got out.

Thing is, you don't really notice it when you're watching the film unless you're looking for it, then it's just such a blatantly obvious plot hole.

DerAppie:I guess they need money to finance a new movie. They are also selling the rv from Lost World

That thing would be AWESOME to go camping in - trouble is, it was built as a movie prop, so it is all bolt-on awesome that has a propensity for falling off. Also, tons of stuff is either ancient or meant for movie making, and not actually living in or using. Definitely a fixer-upper. Would be a hell of a thing to take cross country though :)

I'm reasonably certain that I heard somewhere they were originally going to be identified as deinonychus, which is closer in size to the cunning dinos portrayed in Jurassic Park, but that Crichton decided "velociraptor" sounded more frightening, so he went with that.

The thing that I never understood is why anyone would think we could tell whether T-rex would ignore you if you were still. It can see, and it likely has other senses like olfaction, so it probably could tell whether you would be edible or not, or at least worth gnawing on to make sure you were edible or not. You can't really determine perceptual capabilities like that from the fossil record though. It would be like saying "T-Rex can't see purple, we know because fossils..." That's not how that works, Crichton.

No one believes that at the moment. However, it was a theory around the time he was writing the first book. By the second book Crichton dismissed the notion entirely as stupid.

I would have enjoyed a scene where someone says 'don't move, his vision is based on movement. [bites head off] Well, in theory!!"

MechTard:I think the issue with where the T-Rex got out was that it was designed explicitly as a viewing area, and as such had poorer security in favor of drawing the animal as close to the viewers as possible. It WAS the main attraction after all. That spot did not have... wait, I am recalling the cars going over the edge now. Yeah... farking hole, T-Rex should not have been that high up or that close to the fence as later, when the cars go over, they drop quite a ways, and there isn't any evidence of a hillock or something to explain the spot where the goat stood and T-Rex got out.

I thought they didn't go over into the T-Rex enclosure, but into the large herd animal enclosure. I mean it would be silly to put the T-Rex in with so many prey, so I think he was in a separate smaller enclosure that didn't have the security features (cliff) because they wanted to show him off.

You see similar at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The largely peaceful herd animals are in a big giant open space, while the aggressive animals (Tigers and Cheetahs) are in small enclosures.

Also, I always wondered why Jurassic Park didn't have dry moats around their animal cages; like every other zoo in the history of ever? Also, if they knew the raptors could jump 20 vertical feet; why didn't they make the raptor cage 30 feet tall? Also, why didn't they have a shiat ton of concrete walls separating the cages from the visitor's center?

Because they didn't hire iHeartScotch to plan it.

It is kind of silly to think that someone would design a system to fail open like that. Before you think it couldn't happen though, consider that the US just pushed out a gigantic project affecting millions of people, and didn't bother to put in the part that collects money.

Nutsac_Jim:It is kind of silly to think that someone would design a system to fail open like that.

Any system that relies upon electrical shocks like those fences is going to "fail open".

The thing is, most of the time, once an animal gets a couple shocks, they avoid the fence, even if it isn't actually energized. So you could have a system fail like that and it would still provide a large measure of protection.

The idea behind Jurassic Park though is that it's not just one failure, but a series of cascading failures, some intentional (Nedry shutting off selected fences), and some unintentional (power goes out due to fuel starvation in the book, resetting the system in the movie).

The raptors were only released when *ALL* systems went down, which wasn't supposed to ever happen, but it was done in an attempt to fix the system that Nedry screwed with.

ShawnDoc:MechTard: I think the issue with where the T-Rex got out was that it was designed explicitly as a viewing area, and as such had poorer security in favor of drawing the animal as close to the viewers as possible. It WAS the main attraction after all. That spot did not have... wait, I am recalling the cars going over the edge now. Yeah... farking hole, T-Rex should not have been that high up or that close to the fence as later, when the cars go over, they drop quite a ways, and there isn't any evidence of a hillock or something to explain the spot where the goat stood and T-Rex got out.

I thought they didn't go over into the T-Rex enclosure, but into the large herd animal enclosure. I mean it would be silly to put the T-Rex in with so many prey, so I think he was in a separate smaller enclosure that didn't have the security features (cliff) because they wanted to show him off.

You see similar at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The largely peaceful herd animals are in a big giant open space, while the aggressive animals (Tigers and Cheetahs) are in small enclosures.

The movie has a well known error in it; the T-Rex comes in from the left of the cars where the goat is supposed to be sitting, then pushes the cars off a cliff through the hole in the fence that it made. Pretty big error, I think there's an interview or something with Spielberg somewhere where he says "meh, it worked for the shot."

But the T-Rex enclosure was pretty darn big. Hypothetically, had the movie not had the error, Grant and the kids went into the big herbivore enclosure through a hole made by the T-Rex, because their entire trip they are seeing the herbivores and the only time they had to deal with another fence was getting from the herbivore enclosure to the visitor center area. Here's a map from the movie recreated by replica prop enthusiasts.

That Guy Jeff:The movie has a well known error in it; the T-Rex comes in from the left of the cars where the goat is supposed to be sitting, then pushes the cars off a cliff through the hole in the fence that it made. Pretty big error, I think there's an interview or something with Spielberg somewhere where he says "meh, it worked for the shot."

Ah ok, I never paid that much attention. Just assumed it was a different enclosure they were pushed into.

Well, there were quite a lot of other things that Crichton didn't quite bother to make work, either. I read the book as a fun plane-ride read, and got really annoyed with the writing and the Amazing Nothing Can Stop Them Velociraptors™. It reminded me that "The Andromeda Strain" was boring as fark, and The Big Twist at the end was completely stupid, so I should have known what to expect.